A Memory to be Forgotten
by Hayato-San
Summary: My first fan fic! (cheers) Spike and Jet screw up yet another job, but will this lead to a startling discovery?


Disclaimer: I don't own Cowboy Bebop. If I had anything to do about it, more episodes to go around! Anyways, and now for the show!  
  
***  
  
It had been a long day; one 10,000 Woolong bounty dead and a building completely destroyed. Spike stared at his glass full of whiskey for a moment and then up at the quiet smoke-thickened air of the bar room. He sighed and eyed Jet for a moment, speaking slowly. "So Jet, how much did we manage to lose this time?"   
  
Jet shot Spike a nasty look and shook his head, taking a drag of his newly lit cigarette as, speaking as he exhaled, "Well, we were lucky. There were no witnesses to actually determine who destroyed the building."  
  
"Well Jet, if someone hadn't suggested shooting the gas can to scare the guy out.."  
  
"How was I supposed to know that can was near one of the only actual supporting pillars of that building!?"  
  
Spike stared at Jet blankly and leaned back, folding his arms behind his head, a smug grin crossing his face as he responded to Jet, "Well, usually when a plank sticks out of the ground and is pressed against the ceiling, it's important."  
  
Jet grumbled and turned away, going back to his own thoughts, looking up as he saw the bar door fly open. His eyes widened as much as his mouth did as he realized it was Faye, huffing as usual and storming to them, shouting.  
  
"What the hell were you thinking?! Don't you realize that could have at least bought us food for another week?"  
  
Faye grumbled and reached out, grabbing the two now drunk bounty hunters and dragged them away, the half-conscious Spike raising his hand and shouting to the bar tender, "Put it on the woman's tab!"  
  
***  
  
The next day, after a very long sleep, Spike awoke to the sound of the television which he had left on the night before, his _expression suddenly becoming that of embarrassment as he saw the story of destroyed house. He sighed at the thought of their failure but looked up again, shocked to hear that their man had only been faking his death and was still quite at large, turning to yell to the rest of the ship.  
  
"Hey! That guy's still alive! Looks like you'll be getting that food sooner than you think, Faye!"  
  
Spike listened for a smart comeback from Faye, but began to feel a little uneasy at the silence, surprised that Ein's barks hadn't woken him up in the first place.   
  
"Your friends can't hear you, Spike, or as your friend called you", said a strange voice from the shadows of the galley. Soon the figure emerged, brandishing a gun, the same man that they had tried to capture the night before, Jean.   
  
Spike gritted his teeth and shouted to the man, "Alright, where's everyone?"  
  
"Humph, you're lucky I didn't kill them, let's just say that they're well, tied up, hmm?"  
  
Spike turned and took a sudden dive as Jean fired a single shot from his pistol, putting a nice hole in their yellow couch. Spike, obviously not prepared for an on-board attack had nothing.   
  
Jean continued to walk forward, laughing as he looked around for the hidden spike, shaking his head slowly as he spoke.  
  
"It's pointless, Spike. Even if you did get to your gun or your friends', they're all empty. Face destiny and remember these words before I find and blast your brains to pieces: This is a gift from Vicious and his exact, yet simple words; goodbye."  
  
At the mention of his old partner's name, Spike leapt to his feet, finding the man a lot closer now, he swung his long leg toward the man, kicking the gun from him, only to bring his fist around as he spun, smashing it into the man's face head on, a small fountain of blood squirting from his nose as he hit the ground, barely conscious. Spike knelt down, holding the man's own pistol to his head.  
  
"Now, tell me, how do you know Vicious!? If you don't tell me, I'll just dump your body in what's left of that building before they clear it and no one will know the difference; just a mistake and exaggeration of the press."  
  
Jean stared up at Spike with an amused look and spat into his face, laughing as he rolled onto his feet and began to run toward the outer deck of the ship.  
  
Spike grunted and fired two shots as he stood and chased after him, each hitting the right border of the hatch, growling as he climbed through the hatch, knowing those bullet holes were coming out of his share of the next bounty.   
  
Jean reached the outside deck finally, stopping at the edge and looking around, crying in pain and falling to the ground, grabbing his now red pant leg as Spike emerged from the darkness of the Bebop, smirking.   
  
"Where do you think you're going? I can do whatever I feel like doing to you, so long as you're alive when I turn you in. Did you honestly think I was going to kill you? When on the news it said on the news your bounty has had an extra zero added to it?"  
  
Jean again smirked and laughed insanely, pulling out a back-up gun, struggling onto his good leg, holding the small pistol to his head.  
  
"Well, mission failed, goodbye, cowboy!"  
  
The man's body fell limply into the water of the bay as a single shot rang out from his own pistol, Spike staring sadly into the water at the lost bounty, Jet suddenly walking up behind him, putting his prosthetic hand on his shoulder.  
  
"Lost a good one, didn't we?"  
  
Spike turned and smirked, knowing Jet had purposely stayed out of the entire fight.  
  
"You know, he was worth 100,000 and you chose the perfect time to stay out? I'm starting to think you know more about me than you should."  
  
Jet turned with Spike under his arm, walking back into the confines of the Bebop where Faye and the obedient Ein were waiting for him.  
  
"Let's just get you a drink and forget all about it."  
  
But Spike knew he'd never forget it; Jean had mentioned Vicious, he had to know more. However in the end, in a shameful irony, the two bottles of whiskey Jet had gotten for him caused Spike to forget there had even been a bounty that week in the first place. Easy come easy go, as they say, cowboy. 


End file.
